Undoubtedly one of the most exotic units of the War between the States was the Louisiana Tigers. The exploits of these men have been told and retold so many times both during and after the war that it is difficult today to sort out fact from fiction. Yet, from the wealth of tales, a picture emerges of a band of real fighters, always ready to enter the fray on or off the field of battle. In April of 1861 war fever was epidemic throughout the South. One of the many who sought to serve their native land in her hour of need was Chatham Roberdeau Wheat. Born in Virginia as the son of an Episcopal minister, Wheat originally planned for a career in law, but while he was yet a student he was caught up in the excitement of the Mexican-American War and, in the summer of 1846, volunteered for service with the 1st Tennessee Mounted Regiment. A big man, standing 6 ft. 4 inches in height and weighing 275 pounds, the soldier's life of action and adventure obviously appealed to Wheat. Although he returned to New Orleans after the end of the war and tried to continue in his original career, after two years he was again off to seek his fame and fortune as a soldier, drifting in and out of the numerous wars and revolutions endemic throughout Central America. After an unsuccessful attempt to "liberate" Cuba, Wheat went on to join up with a scheme to establish an independent republic in northern Mexico. The collapse of this enterprise in 1851 seemed to cool Wheat's military ardor and he again returned to his law practice. This interlude only lasted a couple of years however, and in early 1854 Wheat again left New Orleans. Heading for Mexico, he planned to join William Walker's revolution in Baja, California. When the proposed rebellion failed to get off the ground Wheat threw in his lot with Juan Alverez, yet another Mexican revolutionary leader. Alverez met with success and in 1855 the government of Santa Anna was toppled. Wheat entered Mexico City as part of the victorious insurrection army. Quickly growing tired of a peaceful life in Mexico, Wheat embarked on a new quest -- this time to aid William Walker in Nicaragua. Walker had helped execute a coup in that country and managed to get himself named as President, but a coalition of Central American states was threatening to remove him. Wheat arrived in Nicaragua in January of 1857 and joined several other filibusters in a relief expedition. Unfortunately for Wheat's (and Walker's) hopes for glory, the expedition failed and he was again back in the United States by the Spring of the same year (1). Undaunted, Wheat spent the next few years still ardently searching for adventure. He was again involved in an unsuccessful plot in Mexico and then left for Italy to serve as a private with Garibaldi's army. After rapidly rising to the rank of general in the English brigade of Garibaldi's "Red Shirts", in early 1861 Wheat returned to New Orleans to fight for the new Southern Confederacy. Seeking out other native Virginians, Wheat soon recruited a company known as the Old Dominion Guards. He was then asked to enlarge his command to a battalion of five companies. The first of these to join the Old Dominion Guards was the Tiger Rifles. This group of 82 men was under the rule of Capt. Alexander White, late the Captain of the steamer "Magnolia". When Louisiana issued its call for volunteers, White and his crew had decided to pitch in for their native state. Their recruiting methods proved to be unorthodox, but effective. Forming into squads, the crew of the Magnolia fanned out through New Orleans and seized likely recruits, announcing to them that they had just "volunteered". Next to be included in the new 1st Special Battalion (Wheat's) Louisiana Volunteers was the Walker Guards. This company was commanded by Robert Harris. Since Harris had served with Walker in Nicaragua, the Guards were probably named in honor of his former commander. These three companies were soon transferred from New Orleans to Camp Moore, situated to the north of the city near the town of Tangipahoa. It was here that a local wealthy citizen took notice of the Tiger Rifles and purchased special uniforms for the entire company. Previous to this, White's company had no uniform apart from red bands of cloth upon their hats on which were written slogans such as "Tiger On The Leap" or "Tiger In Search of Abe". The Tiger Rifles now acquired a zouave style uniform, consisting of a red fez with a blue tassel, a dark blue jacket trimmed in red, a red shirt and sash, blue and white striped zouave pantaloons, white stockings with horizontal blue stripes, and white gaiters (2). Rank for NCO's was indicated by inverted chevrons on the lower sleeve. The company was armed with .54 calibre Mississippi Rifles, and because the early models of this weapon did not include provision for a bayonet, the Tigers each equipped themselves with a Bowie knife. While at Camp Moore the original three companies, now known collectively as "Tigers" after the title of their more colorful members, were augmented by the addition of the Delta Rangers and the Catahoula Guerillas. The Rough and Ready Rangers had also been slated to join Wheat's Battalion but proved to be less ready than their name implied, and had to be disbanded for a lack of recruits (3). On June 6, 1861, when the Battalion was mustered into the Confederate service, it numbered about 450 men and officers. A New Orleans paper reported that 75 percent of these men had been filibusters and the rest were recruited from the riverboats and levees of the Mississippi River. Manassas Six days later Wheat's men set off for Virginia. Within a week they were at Manassas Junction where they were assigned, together with the 4th South Carolina Infantry, to Colonel "Shanks" Evans' Brigade. That brigade was assigned to guard the left flank of the Confederate force positioned along the south bank of Bull Run. On July 21, 1861 the Battle of 1st Manassas began when the Union army moved to outflank the Confederates and advanced against Evans' position. About 9:00 a.m. the Tigers were sent forward in conjunction with the 4th S. Carolina Infantry to engage the advancing Federal column. As the Louisianians marched toward the enemy on the high ground of Young's Branch they mistakenly came under fire from the Carolinians on their right. The Tigers immediately returned the fire, claiming that they would shoot at anyone who shot at them. Fortunately, only 2 men were wounded in this altercation. The Tigers were quickly brought under control and continued on against the Yankees. As Federal forces deployed on his front Evans saw an opportunity to attack and ordered his two units to charge. A Tiger wrote home afterwards: "Flat on our faces we received their showers of balls; a moment's pause and we rose, closed upon them with fierce yells, clubbed our muskets and used our long knives....". Some accounts claim that some of the Tigers even threw away their muskets and charged with only their Bowie knives. After leading three separate charges, Wheat fell, wounded through both lungs. He was carried off the field wrapped in the flag of the Old Dominion Guards (4). The Tigers, without their intrepid leader, rapidly lost their cohesion. Most of them, however, continued to fight on in individual companies and some eventually ended up on Henry House Hill as part of Stonewall Jackson's gallant stand. After the end of the battle, Wheat's Battalion found it difficult to adjust to camp life. Even though they were transferred to an all Louisiana brigade commanded by General Richard Taylor, a man determined to maintain order, the Tigers lost what little discipline they ever had. Wheat, dramatically recovering from a wound he had been told was fatal, was not around to keep his Tigers under control. The result was that the Tigers were almost constantly in some sort of altercation. James Nisbet of the 21st Georgia related a tale of Wheat's men and his own regiment: "One snowy day I was reading by a comfortable fire in my quarters when I heard a tremendous racket down in the company quarters. On looking out, I saw a fight going on between ten or twelve zouaves and men of my company. I ran down there and commanded the peace, which the sergeants restored after much difficulty. Several of Wheat's Tiger Rifles of Taylor's Brigade were lying on the ground, having been knocked down by my men. They said they had been robbed of their whiskey by some boys of [my] company who met them, and asked for a drink, and then ran off with the bottles; that they had followed them to get satisfaction." After taking the Tigers to his quarters, Nisbet gave them a drink and sent them off after warning them that if they insisted on fighting at such poor odds they could get themselves killed. The Tigers went off, saying "We kin clean up the whole damn 21st Georgia any time". Even after Wheat returned in September of 1861 the unruly nature of his men continued unabated. Finally, in November, events came to a head. Two members of the Tigers were arrested for leading an attack on the officer of the guard. General Taylor determined to make an example of the two and they were court-martialed and condemned to be shot. The execution on December 9, 1861 of Michael O'Brien and Dennis Corcoran was the first such sentence to be carried out in the Army of Northern Virginia. The spring of 1862 brought the promise of some relief from the monotony of camp life. Wheat's Battalion, as part of Taylor's Brigade of Ewell's Division, left Manassas to join Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley (5). Taylor's Brigade marched into Jackson's camp "over 3000 strong, neat in fresh clothing of gray with white gaiters, bands playing at the head of their regiments, not a straggler, but every man in his place, stepping jauntily as on parade, though it had marched 20 miles and more" (6). In the next few weeks the 1st Louisiana Special Battalion saw almost continuous action. The Tigers fought at Front Royal, Winchester, Cross Keys, and Port Republic as Jackson swept first down and then up the Valley. Last Campaign The Louisianians had only a short rest after the Battle of Port Republic before Jackson marched out of the Valley to aid Lee's army in front of Richmond. This was the last campaign for Wheat's Battalion. By the time of the Battle of Gaines' Mill on June 27th, 1862 only about 100 Tigers remained. These men, because of their small numbers and aggressive tenacity, were used as the brigade's skirmishers. Wheat took this job seriously and was always at the front to position his men and watch the enemy. This dedication proved to be fatal. In the lines in front of Gaines' Mill, Wheat was wounded and died the same day. In the fighting later that day, the Tigers lost another 20 men. The battalion never recovered. Only a handful of men remained and the death of Wheat left them without effective leadership. Taylor, who had never been fond of the Tigers and their rowdy ways, recommended that the battalion be disbanded. No General Order to this effect was issued, but by August of 1862 the 1st Louisiana Special Battalion had disapeared from the records. NOTES (1) Walker escaped from Nicaragua in 1856 but was shot in Honduras in 1860 after yet another failed campaign. (2) Sources for the uniform and equipment of Wheat's Tigers are unfortunately often at odds with each other. In the past the best description of the Tiger Rifles' uniform has been based upon Genl. Bradley Johnson's description of the two unfortunates executed in December of 1861. The only deviation from the standard accepted uniform description was that he stated the jackets were "light brown". Michael Thomas, an historian employed by the National Parks Service, supervised the exhumation of the two Tigers and the moving of their remains to a new burial site, an episode made necessary by encroaching urban sprawl. From the pieces of cloth that were recovered Thomas has concluded that the Tiger Rifles wore a uniform as described in the text. However, it is possible that the dark blue jackets of early 1861 had faded to a brownish shade by Fall. Thomas' article does not exclude this possibility. (3) Martin claims that the Rough and Ready Rangers managed to gain the recruits they needed and formed a 6th company of Wheat's Battalion just before it departed for Virginia. (4) The Old Dominion Guards carried an 1861 style National Flag. The canton had seven stars encircling a single star. (5) Martin states that in the spring of 1862 two companies of Wheat's Battalion were mounted and a battery was attached. However, a careful rereading of the report of Colonel Robert Foster in the OFFICIAL RECORDS, Series I, Vol. 12, Part I, pp. 458-460, the apparent source for this claim, leads the writer to question this conclusion. (6) From this description of Taylor's Brigade it would seem that by the spring of 1862 the Tiger Rifles had abandoned their zouave dress. BIBLIOGRAPHY Elting, John R. and Michael J. McAfee (eds.), MILITARY UNIFORMS IN AMERICA, LONG ENDURE: THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD 1852-1867, 1982. Jones, Michael D., "Chatham Roberdeau Wheat and His Louisiana Tigers", BLUE AND GRAY MAGAZINE, July 1985, pp. 24-30. Martin, David, "Louisiana Tigers", CAMP CHASE GAZETTE, Sept. 1982, pp. 10-15. Moore, Allison, THE LOUISIANA TIGERS, 1961. Thomas, Michael R., "Confederate Firing Squad at Centreville: First Military Executions In the Army of Northern Virginia", NORTHERN VIRGINIA HERITAGE, June 1980, pp. 3-6. "Unearthing the Tigers' Graves", NORTHERN VIRGINIA HERITAGE, June 1980, pp. 7-8. Todd, Frederick P., AMERICAN MILITARY EQUIPAGE 1851-1872, Vol. 11, 1983. WAR OF THE REBELLION, OFFICIAL RECORDS OF THE UNION AND CONFEDERATE ARMIES, Vol. II, XII, 1880-1901. (EDITOR'S NOTES): Once again I find myself thanking Ryan Toews, an ACW Society member from Canada, who unfailingly seems to find a way to help me fill the pages of our magazine with quality articles which have been well researched and written. Being from Louisiana and having access to many original sources in the various archives located in this state, I could find little to add to Ryan's research on Wheat's Tigers. When painting a miniatures unit to represent the 1st Louisiana Special Battalion, one should paint about 1/4 of the f igures as per Ryan's uniform description, with one stand of castings painted blue to represent the Walker Guards, and the rest in gray. All companies seemed to start the war wearing white gaiters. Back to The Zouave Vol II No. 3 Table of Contents Back to The Zouave List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1988 The American Civil War Society This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com